|
I'm assuming he means "posted to the web for free" web serials. There are a lot out there, and some interesting monetization schemes.
|
#
?
Jul 27, 2014 18:21
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 19:58 |
|
|
Published my third short story yesterday, and I'm about a third of the way done with my next one. What's everyone working on?
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 14:18
|
|
|
I just finished a Goon Project(tm) romance serial that is selling okay, and we're gearing up for the novelization release in three weeks or so. On the side, I'm publishing one short story a week in romance and I'm about 13,000 words into my next novel. I'm also reading "Wired for Story" by Lisa Cron on the recommendation of some buddies who went to the RWA convention this year. http://www.amazon.com/Wired-Story-Writers-Science-Sentence-ebook/dp/B005X0JTGI/
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 14:46
|
|
|
Reading 'Fallen on Good Times' by Rewan Tremethick, the author friend from uni I was saying about. Aside from that, trying not to melt or kill my neighbour, both of which grow as concerns as the day draws on. Fallen on Good Times at Amazon Also making GBS threads myself as I just published my first erotica book. Five people downloaded trials from SB and one person Amazoned it the day after it went up. I have no idea what I'm doing. Bobby Deluxe fucked around with this message at 17:56 on Jul 30, 2014 |
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 17:51
|
|
|
I'm going through a proof copy of my second horror/thriller novel and changing a ton of stuff while waiting for beta readers to do the same. It's great having a physical copy (via Createspace) to scribble all over, check how the cover looks etc.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 19:57
|
|
|
Kindle Unlimited is either going to make this the best month of 2014 for me or the rate paid per borrow will be so low that it will be a PR disaster for Amazon.
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 20:41
|
|
|
Bobby Deluxe posted:Also making GBS threads myself as I just published my first erotica book. Five people downloaded trials from SB and one person Amazoned it the day after it went up. I have no idea what I'm doing. What is SB?
|
|
#
?
Jul 30, 2014 23:32
|
|
|
I'm expecting my third novel to be back from the editor in a couple of weeks and 33k words into my fourth novel. Trying to keep at the daily goal while also remodeling the house... Kindle Unlimited has given me a nice boost as well.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2014 01:27
|
|
|
EngineerSean posted:Kindle Unlimited is either going to make this the best month of 2014 for me or the rate paid per borrow will be so low that it will be a PR disaster for Amazon. I'm wondering about how it's going to pan out too. I've been assuming $1.00 per borrow and even that makes it a pretty crazy month. If it's higher than that, somehow, I'm going to be a happy camper. I'm sitting on ~700 borrows for the month, which is way higher than I usually get. Like, an order of magnitude higher. I've broken 100 borrows once in two years, and it was on a book that almost broke the top 100 (#140, screw everything  ). Given I've done jack poo poo this month apart from shorts and the serial, which isn't even on my KDP account, I'm very happy with this month.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2014 01:44
|
|
|
violetdragon posted:What is SB?
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2014 01:58
|
|
|
Yeah, SmashWords. No idea where the B came from.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2014 11:17
|
|
|
Could I get a blurb check? quote:Lieutenant William Grace, the sole survivor of the Farshore genocide, has held the line against the invading Sa’Ami and cleaved a gap for the United Colonies to assault Sa’Ami space. Now he finds himself cast aside by the Earth born Admirals, a colonist pariah in a fleet that trusts only those born on Earth.
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2014 19:16
|
|
|
Yooper posted:Could I get a blurb check? Lieutenant William Grace, the sole survivor of the Farshore genocide, has held the line against the invading Sa’Ami and cleaved a gap for the United Colonies to assault Sa’Ami space. Now he finds himself cast aside by the Earth-born Admirals, a colonist pariah in a fleet that trusts only those born on Earth. But with a Navy that distrusts him, a corporate renegade who wants to manipulate him, a colony set on the path of treason, a crew of misfits and miscreants, and a ship that will disassemble itself if (that's what you mean right?) he goes rogue - will they find empty space, or a new enemy? (I don't understand what that means. That list of things doesn't affect what they will find) If he follows orders he might get to keep his career, but if he makes a stand he might find his place, or lose everything. (Explain. What does finding his place mean?)
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2014 19:37
|
|
|
quote:If he follows orders he might get to keep his career, but if he makes a stand he might find his place, or lose everything. (Explain. What does finding his place mean?) Anything ultra fancy he's doing this time that you could say he's saving? It'd let you rephrase the line as a decision: Does he take the easy path and save his career, or does he risk it all in a chance to save the galaxy?
|
|
#
?
Jul 31, 2014 19:54
|
|
|
Oh, and happy royalty day, everyone! I hope July (well, technically May?) was a great month for everyone. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 02:37
|
|
|
Yooper posted:Could I get a blurb check? The only thing I didn't like was the last sentence. The second sentence implies high stakes and drama (finding a new enemy), but then the last sentence is more about a career decision, and that seems like lower stakes.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 03:20
|
|
|
How about: "If he gives in, he'll keep his job—and lose the war." For some dang reason this was a sprightly month for me for borrows. Perhaps the Kindle Unlimited thing is helping me out. I never expect anyone to use their monthly free KOLL borrow on a short story that they could _buy_ for a buck or two. I used to be amazed if I have one borrow in a month, but this time I had three.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 05:21
|
|
|
Nobody ever borrows my stuff, ever, but I had three this month. I wasn't even sure what that other line was at first.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 07:01
|
|
|
Awesome! Thanks folks. Might as well toss the glove on that last line. Gotta convert with that copy, might as well make it big. quote:If he follows orders he’ll keep his oath, but if he makes a stand he might save the starsystem, or lose everything.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 12:58
|
|
|
Better than last month, making it only the second worst this year. Amazon earnings were up, BN, Apple were down. Kobo is kobo. I put a short story in Select to give it a go. Got one Unlimited borrow. Eh. Had a reader email me about getting a signed copy. Going to order it via createspace, sign, and ship to them via priority mail. Added $16 to the cost, but they were fine with it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 16:02
|
|
|
Yooper, 66% of the outcomes in your final line involve losing the war and everyone being killed. The odds are unfavourable that your dude will make a difference no matter if he goes or not, so I think you should emphasize more in your blurb what it is that only Lt. Grace can do to beat those odds and save humanity. Why is he our hero? He survived a genocide at some point, but how does that make him special? Did he survive as a child whose cunning allowed him to hide, like Newt in Aliens? As a teenager, did he fight his way to safety? Was the genocide while he served? And now this war; he stove off an attack and opened a counter-attack? How? Is he a brilliant fighter pilot? A foot-soldier? Are these aliens the ones who genocided Farshore, giving him a very personal reason to fight them? Your blurb really tells me nothing beyond pretty generic strokes of the story, and those strokes aren't enticing at the moment. This could be Mass Effect, for all I know.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 16:50
|
|
|
A bit more refinement here. I've always wanted to keep it sparse in the blurb, but here's a version with some more details. Is the blurb cutoff the same word count, or does it depend on screen resolution? quote:Lieutenant William Grace is the sole survivor of the Farshore genocide, the son of a rebel General that won the war and lost his planet. That genocide led to the creation of the United Colonies, the thing William believes in most. The thing that seems to be falling apart in front of him. The Sa’Ami are held on one front and the Harmony Worlds advance on another.
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 23:02
|
|
|
Yooper posted:A bit more refinement here. I've always wanted to keep it sparse in the blurb, but here's a version with some more details. Why do you do this '' But with a Navy that distrusts him, a corporate renegade who wants to manipulate him, a colony set on the path of treason, and a ship that will disassemble itself if he goes rogue - will they find a silent front, or a new enemy? '' It doesn't make sense as a sentence. The navy distrusts him, so they will find a new enemy or a silent front? What? It should be something like But with a Navy that distrusts him, a corporate renegade who wants to manipulate him, a colony set on the path of treason, and a ship that will disassemble itself if he goes rogue, the stakes are as high as ever. (generic as poo poo, but I don't know your book)
|
|
#
?
Aug 1, 2014 23:47
|
|
|
When do we find out about the KU payment rate? When does Amazon usually update the month's global fund?
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 00:23
|
|
|
Jalumibnkrayal posted:When do we find out about the KU payment rate? When does Amazon usually update the month's global fund? Probably on or around August 15. Based on my own increase (roughly 1000% over last month) and everyone else's (I mean, there's two or three people on this page that have said "I normally get zero borrows but this month I got three!") I think they've way underestimated the amount that people would go through books in Kindle Unlimited, and the rate per borrow will be less than a dollar. However, that also heavily plays against their current PR show of "We care more about authors than Hachette" if they go around paying people 50 cents for each book of theirs that was read, so they might just up the prize pool retroactively. Otherwise people will cry from the rooftops about how lovely KDP Select is and there will be a huge egress from the program (probably not me though because I'm a big dum dum).
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 00:59
|
|
|
Somehow, I don't see someone with your degree of Select luck as a "dum dum." Was there a certain degree of luck? Probably. Dum dum? gently caress no. It makes a hell of a lot of money for you, so why would you stop? (And thanks for convincing me to not abandon Select after that ridiculous 65K-download freebie failure, by the way. It may not be doing much for my not-so-prolific NA pen-name, but it's doing a ton for my other one. )
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 01:15
|
|
|
I take full advantage of everything KDP Select has to offer me so, haha, yes I don't actually consider myself a dum dum regardless of how many get my books for dirt cheap.
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 01:34
|
|
|
I had a pleasant surprise yesterday. I had lowered my price on one of my books for a promo with Discount Books Daily next week, and yesterday Pixel of Ink picked it as one of the hot deal, leading to a very welcome and totally unexpected sales spike. I've already had more sales in August than I did in June and July combined. 
|
|
#
?
Aug 2, 2014 15:39
|
|
|
Is 2k to 10k the best book to read to improve your writing process? I've gotten a lot of good ideas from it. (I've also found four mistakes in it. Maybe I should become an editor instead of a writer.)
|
|
#
?
Aug 3, 2014 00:41
|
|
|
Grammaton posted:Is 2k to 10k the best book to read to improve your writing process? I've gotten a lot of good ideas from it. (I've also found four mistakes in it. Maybe I should become an editor instead of a writer.) I've found it to be pretty good wrt to the mechanics of improving your output. As for motivation to put my rear end in the chair, I liked both The War of Art (Steven Pressfield) and Daily Rituals: How Artists Work (Mason Currey). The latter is more of a peak into historical figures and their often eccentric processes. Midday naps seem to be a somewhat common component, for what it's worth.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2014 15:25
|
|
|
Sundae posted:I'm also reading "Wired for Story" by Lisa Cron on the recommendation of some buddies who went to the RWA convention this year. Just wanted to follow up on this post earlier. This is a good book. I definitely recommend it.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2014 16:23
|
|
|
Grammaton posted:Is 2k to 10k the best book to read to improve your writing process? I've gotten a lot of good ideas from it. (I've also found four mistakes in it. Maybe I should become an editor instead of a writer.) I've also found Outlining Your Novel to be helpful as well. 2k to 10k helped me quite a bit. The author is now following the self-pub path too, for what its worth.
|
|
#
?
Aug 4, 2014 17:36
|
|
|
I had three romance short stories up for free over the weekend. Gave away about 3k copies. Hit #1 in some small categories and #3 in a very large category. Now we'll see if any sales come of it. Author ranking hit top 500 for a microsecond, so that was exciting. Sorry if this is all mundane drudgery for you old hands: I'm still a stupid newbie and everything is new and great!
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 17:44
|
|
|
Jalumibnkrayal posted:I had three romance short stories up for free over the weekend. Gave away about 3k copies. Hit #1 in some small categories and #3 in a very large category. Now we'll see if any sales come of it. Author ranking hit top 500 for a microsecond, so that was exciting. I'm a stupider newbier newbie than you so I love reading about new ebook authors hitting milestones and having early successes. Congratulations; hope you see a nice boost in your sales!
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 21:41
|
|
|
Yeah congrats dude, a victory is a victory and I hope you get some attention to your work.
|
|
#
?
Aug 5, 2014 22:58
|
|
|
Is short romance a thing that sells? My mom is writing short erotica but she'd much prefer to write straight-up romance.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 01:58
|
|
|
EB Nulshit posted:Is short romance a thing that sells? My mom is writing short erotica but she'd much prefer to write straight-up romance.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 02:37
|
|
|
EB Nulshit posted:Is short romance a thing that sells? My mom is writing short erotica but she'd much prefer to write straight-up romance. I think the main draw of romance is the development of the relationship between the main character and their love interest. That would be hard to explore satisfactorily in a short story length. However, I think there are some folks who write serialized romance (there's a huge thread about it on Kboards here http://www.kboards.com/index.php/topic,184087.0.html). That might be one way to write smaller 15-20k word romance stories but have them continue along a much larger plot arc. Your mom sounds awesome.
|
|
#
?
Aug 6, 2014 04:04
|
|
|
KDP banner at the top says the August Global Fund is $2mil. I guess Amazon is anticipating a lot of people to bail Kindle Unlimited after the free month.
Jalumibnkrayal fucked around with this message at 02:29 on Aug 8, 2014 |
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 02:18
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 16, 2024 19:58 |
|
|
This is a pretty exceptional article about book covers. http://www.creativindie.com/book-cover-cliches-why-using-them-will-actually-help-you-sell-more-books/ They really get into the symbolism and the genre. Check out #2, Woman holding a birdcage for some reason, for a great display of what a talented cover artist can do with the exact same stockphoto. Clichés don’t matter - Design matters. Man, that's some good advice.
|
|
#
?
Aug 8, 2014 04:22
|
|